Chapter 4 – THE SINNER AND THE SAINT

“Vanessa?” I stared at the silver beads hanging from my fingers. “Are you sure?”

Gabriel took the rosary, tracing a small, almost invisible engraving on the back of the crucifix. “It has her initials. V.B. I gave this to her on our first anniversary.”

The room felt suddenly suffocating.

“If Vanessa’s rosary was in Daniel’s pocket,” I said slowly, “then she was with him the night he died.”

Gabriel’s jaw tightened. “She told me she was in New York that weekend.”

“Uncle Gabe?”

We both turned. Lily was standing in the hallway, pointing to a small, hidden panel low on the wall near the baseboards. She had peeled back a loose piece of wallpaper.

“Daddy showed me this,” she said softly.

Gabriel rushed over, prying the wooden panel away. Behind it was a small metal keypad and a heavy latch. A hidden tunnel.

“Daniel built a backdoor,” Gabriel muttered, entering a four-digit code he clearly knew by heart. The door clicked open, revealing a dark, narrow staircase leading underground.

“Stay close,” he told me, clicking on a flashlight.

We hurried down the stairs, the air growing damp and cold. The tunnel led us out to a storm drain a block away from the house.

Gabriel’s phone buzzed. It was one of his loyal captains.

“Boss,” the voice said. “We found Vanessa. She’s at the downtown marina. She’s trying to charter a boat.”

“Don’t let her leave,” Gabriel snapped. “I’m on my way.”

Thirty minutes later, we arrived at the docks. The rain was pouring sideways. Two of Gabriel’s men had Vanessa cornered near a sleek yacht.

She looked up, her makeup running down her face as Gabriel approached.

“Gabe, please,” she cried, backing away.

Gabriel held up the silver rosary.

Vanessa stopped. She stared at it, her lips trembling.

“You were there,” Gabriel said, his voice cutting through the sound of the rain. “The night Daniel died at the warehouse. You were there.”

Vanessa broke down, falling to her knees on the wet wooden dock.

“I didn’t want to do it!” she sobbed. “But they made me!”

“Who?” Gabriel roared, grabbing her by the shoulders.

“Leo!” she screamed. “Leo is alive! He faked his death because the family was going to kill him! He came to me, Gabe. He said if I didn’t help him set up Daniel, he would tell you the truth about us!”

I stepped forward, holding Lily close. “What truth?”

Vanessa looked at me, her eyes filled with venom and guilt.

“Daniel wasn’t stealing from the family,” Vanessa confessed, weeping. “He was trying to protect you from me. He found out I was funneling money to Leo.”

Gabriel let go of her, stepping back as if she had burned him.

“You betrayed me,” he whispered.

“I was trying to save you!” Vanessa cried. “Leo said he only wanted the money! He promised he wouldn’t hurt you!”

“And Daniel?” I asked, my voice breaking. “Who shot my husband?”

Vanessa looked at the wooden planks.

“It wasn’t Leo,” she whispered. “And it wasn’t Marcus.”

She reached into her purse and pulled out a small, brass key. She tossed it onto the dock.

“Go to the First National Bank downtown,” she said, her voice hollow. “Box 402. Daniel left it there the morning he died. He said if you saw it, you’d know who the real traitor is.”

Gabriel picked up the key. He looked closely at the grooves.

“This is a dual-lock box,” Gabriel said. “It needs two keys to open.”

Vanessa looked up at him, a bitter smile on her face.

“I know,” she said. “And the man who has the second key is standing right behind you.”

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